There\u2019s a famous intersection in Tokyo, Shibuya Crossing, where thousands of people![\"\"](\"https:\/\/berkonomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shibuya-crossing-300x200.jpg\")
cross each day, seemingly in random directions. Here\u2019s the test: try to follow one person in his or her journey. That would be like picking a piece of information from a maze. But it would be impossible to know much about that person from just a photo.<\/p>\n
So, let\u2019s dig further.<\/strong><\/p>\n Say that you have a log file of every contact to your website. Or that you are a cell phone company with a multi\u2013billion record logfile of every call made from every location to every number dialed using your network.\u00a0 You can accurately state that you have big data at your fingertips.\u00a0 But it is useless in this raw, usually unstructured form.<\/p>\n Add context to your data<\/strong><\/p>\n Adding context to data takes this information and creates actionable knowledge. There\u2019s even a new term for this \u2013\u201c thick data.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s data dense with information that is useful and can be mined with available tools to create actionable strategies.\u00a0 Google analytics provides this information at no cost for websites and pages viewed.\u00a0 Google uses proprietary tools to do this quickly, with resultant information available within a day.\u00a0 But once you find a similar need for other types of logged information, you find yourself in the need for a data scientist or data engineer, and the costs climb accordingly.<\/p>\n Data can be invasive in the wrong hands<\/strong><\/p>\n [Email readers, continue here…]\u00a0<\/em><\/span> \u00a0Such knowledge can be amazingly invasive in the wrong hands or if used without consideration for the result.\u00a0 For example: What if American Express offered credit card details about purchases by competitors to a big box retailer?\u00a0 Could Sam\u2019s Club find which households were shopping at Target and even know the annual spend amount by family?\u00a0 Would that be invasive \u2013 or just a great targeted marketing resource?\u00a0 Would you be happy to receive coupons from Sam\u2019s Club knowing that they found you and your shopping habits from your credit card company?<\/p>\n Strategic marketing<\/strong><\/p>\n And yet, there are times when strategic marketing demands information that is readily available in files owned and controlled by you.\u00a0 There are tools and a new generation of experienced data engineers ready to unlock this treasure chest of big data and turn it into actionable knowledge.\u00a0 You\u2019d be remiss to ignore the opportunity; one that even recent generations of management could not dream of gaining access.<\/p>\n A moment on terminology\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Finally, let\u2019s spend a moment on terminology.\u00a0 Today we all hear of \u201cAI\u201d or artificial intelligence \u2013 used for everything from a few rules inserted into code to true self-learning systems.\u00a0 Here, we used \u201cbig data\u201d as our title.\u00a0 But this term is getting old, and often is replaced with \u201cdata analytics\u201d or \u201cAI.\u201d\u00a0 The latter describe the evolution of accumulation through structuring the data through analyzing it as needed to use it to drive results, such as self-driving car systems or decision-based self-driven robotics or recommendation engines.\u00a0 Hope this helps!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There\u2019s a famous intersection in Tokyo, Shibuya Crossing, where thousands of people cross each day, seemingly in random directions. Here\u2019s the test: try to follow one person in his or her journey. That would be like picking a piece of … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/berkonomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Big_data-300x200.jpg\")
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